Moscow metro – the history of the big city metro

Recommendation points

• A bit of history
• Only numbers
• Metro stations and the cost of Moscow real estate

It is simply impossible to imagine a metropolis without an extensive network of underground lines. The metro line system created to solve the transport problem of a large city is becoming an integral part of the life of citizens, allowing them to get to the desired place as quickly and comfortably as possible, has a significant impact on the formation of the city’s image and even on the value of real estate.

The Moscow Metro celebrated its 77th “Birthday” on May 15, 2012, during this time it managed to become a real national treasure, become famous for the beauty of its stations, acquire myths, legends and even become a hero of books and computer games..

At the same time, the Moscow metro does not stand still, constantly evolving, stretching the “tentacles” of lines further and further, occupying not only the territory of the capital, but also certain districts of the Moscow region. Such an important part of Moscow life certainly deserves special attention and study of not only history, but also prospects..

A bit of history

For the first time they started talking about the construction of underground lines in Moscow back in 1873, then it was planned to connect the Kursk railway station and Maryina Roshcha with one branch, but then it did not even come to drawing up a detailed project.

In 1902, engineers proposed a new plan, according to which the underground railway was to connect Zamoskvorechye with Tverskaya Zastava, but the city duma rejected the project, since at that time it was the tram that was considered the most promising mode of public transport and brought significant profits to the treasury..

The next time, the authorities of Belokamennaya returned to the idea of ​​building a subway in 1913, intending to build three lines at once, but the outbreak of the First World War prevented such plans.

After the revolution, the new government fully felt the need to build an underground, but until the beginning of the 30s, funds for such a large-scale construction were not found in the treasury. Only in 1931 did Stalin personally decide to start the construction of the Moscow metro, and in 1933 the Metrostroy trust began construction work on the first line.

The opening date of the Moscow Metro was May 15, 1935. It was then that the first stage of the metro was launched – part of the Sokolnicheskaya line, from the Sokolniki station to the Park Kultury, with a branch to the Smolenskaya station from the Okhotny Ryad station. Then the length of the metro of the capital was only 11.2 kilometers, it included 13 stations, between which 12 trains of 4 cars each ply. Already at that time, about 177 thousand people a day used the services of the Moscow metro..

Before the start of World War II, two more metro lines were built and put into operation – Gorkovsko-Zamoskvoretskaya and Arbatskaya, which reached the Kurskaya station. During the war, metro stations served not only as a transfer point, but also as a reliable bomb shelter during German air raids..

The construction of the third line of the Moscow metro was resumed immediately after the Nazi troops were driven back from the capital – in 1942, in total during the war years 7 stations were built, including Novokuznetskaya, Paveletskaya, Sverdlov Square and Zavod named after Stalin “(now -” Avtozavodskaya “).

In 1950, the first stage of the Circle Line began to work, in 1954 the construction of this branch, which connected 7 of 9 Moscow stations, was fully completed.

Interestingly, already in 1955, the government was forced to abandon the expensive, pompous finishing of the stations, deciding to save money on “unnecessary details” and focus on the speed of construction and functionality. That is why only the stations created before and immediately after World War II are distinguished by such magnificent, truly magnificent decoration, thanks to which 44 stations of the Moscow metro are included in the list of cultural heritage.

The construction of new stations and the expansion of lines continued in the 60s (Filevskaya line, stations “Pionerskaya”, “Pervomayskaya”, “Molodezhnaya”, “Preobrazhenskaya ploshchad” and others), and in the 70s (Rizhsko-Kaluzhskaya line, stations “Nogin Square”, “Tverskaya”, “October Field” and others).

In the 80s, eight-car trains appeared on many lines, and the expansion of metro lines continued, the stations “Konkovo”, “Teply Stan”, “Orekhovo”, “Prazhskaya”, “Vykhino” were opened for passengers.

In 2001, the Moscow authorities began to consider options for expanding the meter lines to the sleeping areas of Belokamennaya, which badly needed a solution to the transport issue. It was decided to expand the branches with the help of the construction of the so-called light metro, which is most often ground-based, passes through overpasses or shallow tunnels, that is, requires less construction costs.

In 2002, the Moscow metro for the first time “went” beyond the boundaries of the Moscow Ring Road – the station “Dmitry Donskoy Boulevard” was opened in Northern Butovo. And in 2009 the metropolitan metro “stepped” beyond the administrative border of the city – the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line was extended from the Strogino station to Mitino, including a section of the former Filevskaya line. The first station on the territory of the Moscow Region, Myakinino, appeared on this line. Another important feature of this station is that for the first time a metro section was built at the expense of private investors, and not budget money. The Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya line in 2009 was extended from the Chkalovskaya station through the center of the capital to the Maryina Roscha station.

Last year, the same line was extended in the southern section from the Maryino station to Zyablikovo.

Talking about the construction of the main, most noticeable parts of the Moscow metro – stations and lines, one must not forget that behind this there is a huge work on organizing such important elements of the system as improving ventilation, developing new models of rolling stock, creating coordination and information and computing centers, organizing the work of thousands of employees and so on.

Only numbers

As of the end of 2011, the Moscow Metro already had 185 stations – of which only one – Myakinino – is located in the Moscow Region, the rest – in the capital itself.

The total length of the Moscow metro lines today is 305.7 kilometers.

Every day, subway trains carry an average of 6.54 million passengers.

This number reaches 2.388 billion people a year..

The busiest rush hours of the Moscow metro are from 8:00 to 9:00, as well as from 18:00 to 19:00. At this time, there are on average 7.7 passengers per square meter of carriage area, which is 2 times higher than the established norms.

The opening hours of the Moscow metro are from 5:20 to 01:00, on holidays, for example, New Year and Easter, the opening hours can be extended by the government.

In terms of congestion, the Moscow Metro ranks second in the world, behind only the Tokyo Metro.

The busiest is the metro section between Krasnogvardeyskaya and Paveletskaya stations on the Zamoskvoretskaya line.

The Moscow metro has 12 lines, which differ in color on the diagrams:

• red – Sokolnicheskaya;
• green – Zamoskvoretskaya;
• blue – Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya;
• blue – Filevskaya;
• brown – Koltsevaya (the only line that Muscovites themselves practically never call by color, because there are simply no more Koltsevaya lines);
• orange – Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya;
• raspberry – Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya;
• yellow – Kalininskaya;
• gray – Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya;
• light green – Lublin;
• turquoise – Kakhovskaya;
• light gray – Butovskaya.

Under construction metro stations are indicated by open circles..

The longest metro line of the capital – Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya – 43.5 kilometers, and the shortest – Kakhovskaya – only 3.3 kilometers.

The longest stretch – between the stations “Krylatskoe” and “Strogino” – 6.5 kilometers, and the shortest – between the stations “Vystavochnaya” and “Mezhdunarodnaya” – only 500 meters.

At the time of the opening of the Moscow Metro in May 1935, the fare was 50 kopecks, but by October it was reduced to 30 kopecks. You could purchase a monthly pass and save 5 kopecks on each trip.

In 1942, the fare rose again to 40 kopecks, and in 1948 – to 50 kopecks..

In 1961, after the monetary reform, the fare was 5 kopecks and remained at the same level for 30 years!

Only in 1991, after the collapse of the USSR, the price grew three times at once – up to 15 kopecks, and already in 1992 it increased to 1 ruble.

During 1993, the fare on the Moscow metro changed three times – from 1 ruble to 30 rubles, and in 1994 – as many as five times – from 50 to 400 rubles. However, the “crazy” inflation in the country at that time simply forced the metro management to change the cost almost every month..

In 1995, fares also changed frequently – four times – and rose to 1.5 thousand rubles.

In 1997, a real record was set – a trip on the subway then cost 2 thousand rubles.

In 1998, after another monetary reform, the price fell to 2 rubles, then slightly increased almost annually, and as of January 2012 it amounted to 28 rubles.

By 2020, according to the plans of the chief designer of Metrogiprotrans, 43 more stations will be built, and the total length of the Moscow metro will grow by 90.4 kilometers and reach 396.1 kilometers.

Metro stations and the cost of Moscow real estate

Real estate agency specialists have long noticed a direct link between the proximity of the metro station and the cost of an apartment in the capital. It is not uncommon to see the line “in the immediate vicinity of the metro station” in the announcement of the purchase or sale of an apartment, but rather a rule. It’s amazing how the presence of the red letter “M”, indicating the entrance to the station, increases the attractiveness and, accordingly, the cost of housing!

Experts advise, if you have to get to the nearest Moscow metro station from the apartment you like by buses or fixed-route taxis (even if the distance is only two or three stops), feel free to demand that the cost of real estate be reduced by several thousand dollars or even by a certain percentage of the total transaction amount.

It is interesting that the cost of square meters is influenced not only by the already operating, but even not yet opened metro stations. For example, in 2012 the mayor’s office of the capital intends to open new stations – the station “Alma-Atinskaya” (refers to the Zamoskvoretskaya line) will open its doors, and in December the station “Pyatnitskoye shosse” (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line).

The plans of the government of the capital became known in September 2011, and the value of real estate in Novokosino immediately crept up, and quite noticeably. If before the approval of the plans of the mayor’s office the average price of one square meter here was 100 thousand rubles, then after the appearance of information about the upcoming construction of a new metro station it increased to 135 thousand rubles.

The specialists also noted that information about the construction of the Novokosino metro station had an impact not only on the value of real estate in the area, but also on the cost of apartments in Reutov near Moscow, from where it will now be easy to get to the metro by public transport. Today the price per square meter in the city of Reutov has reached 80 thousand rubles. According to the experts of NDV-Nedvizhimost, even the remoteness from the Moscow Ring Road does not affect the cost of apartments as much as the presence of a metro station nearby. For comparison, in Balashikha, which is located approximately at the same distance from the Moscow ring road as Reutov, the average price of one square meter remained at 58 thousand rubles.

Oleg Repchenko, head of IRN, noted that while plans for the construction of new metro stations are under development and have not yet been approved, the real estate market reacts to this information rather passively. For example, housing prices near the projected Novoperedelkino and Solntsevo stations have not increased, since neither the exact location of the future stations, nor the exact construction time frame are known..

Most significantly – by 10-20% – the price of square meters grows when accurate information about construction plans appears and real construction work begins. And already the very introduction of the metro station into operation, the market does not react so sharply – the event had its impact earlier, “played back” and the information does not cause such a strong stir – the expert emphasizes.

Also, the degree of influence of new metro stations on the increase in housing prices is exerted by the development of the transport infrastructure already available in this part of the city. In particular, if there was a good transport interchange in the area of ​​the proposed metro construction and before that there were no big problems with trips to the center of the capital, then after the appearance of the station the cost per square meter may increase by only 6-10%. And if transport accessibility in the area was not well developed, realtors and developers may well raise prices by 20 or even 30%.

As you can see, it is impossible to underestimate the influence of the Moscow Metro on the life of the capital in general and on the real estate market in particular. Experts strongly advise, before making a choice between individual new buildings located on the outskirts of Moscow, to learn about the immediate (and even long-term) plans of the government regarding the expansion of metro lines, since this can make buying a home right now a much more profitable investment of capital, or, on the contrary, significantly increase the estimated acquisition costs.